Redhawk Caldera tatterclaw

"i need you go to pick up bridget and speak to blackwater about alliance," teya said in a monotone to @Reyes.
she had barely spoken to him in the last weeks. she dropped a fish just outside their den. the swim from the mainland had washed most of the soil from her paws; dirt tracked from the fen. it was twilight and it turned his fur to a breathtaking crimson that sent her heart pounding.
but then the sound of him agreeing with her echoed in her mind again, and teya turned away. she had thought a good deal upon her journey back from the graves, and she had decided that if he could not be a father even while she was made a mother against her will, then he did not need to be here.
"tell me what you need to know." her back was to him; she stropped her claws animatedly in the shallow water.

He'd only been back in their shared space for a few hours when she'd arrived, smelling of fresh water and carrying a fish. They hadn't spoken since their last real conversation and Reyes found himself resentful of her silence; but it wasn't entirely her fault, even if he wanted it to be. The man had walled himself off too.

She mentioned something about an alliance. A duty that involved her position as Raven, maybe. Reyes didn't really pay attention to the work that she did, he was so focused on his own struggles and his own patrols, so this break in the quiet only brought a small huff, a curious raise of his brows.

Tell me what you need to know. She went on to say, which caught Reyes off-guard. What did that mean? What could he possibly need to know that she hadn't already stated, moments prior?

He tried to think of something that would make sense to ask. How long will you be gone?

how long will —
"no, reyes. i not leave. you need to go for brecheliant." teya turned to face him, stumbling a bit beneath the weight to which she had never allowed herself to become accustomed. 
"you be gone a week. maybe more if bridget need rest."
he could refuse. she was in no place to enforce her wants, let alone her rank. it was teya's way of testing him, to see if he would suddenly reveal something else he was incapable of doing.
the raven was aware she was being unfair. she was also aware that it felt nice, for once, to hand him the rank basket of shitty feelings that she had been carrying for years, it felt like. now reyes could hold it.

Oh. He'd misheard her. The scathing manner of her reply made him balk a little bit, then his shoulders sagged after a second and accepted his role. It would be nice to have some time away - plus he could probably stop off to visit his mother. That thought both warmed his heart and filled him with dread; Rosalyn would probably have questions, and Reyes wasn't really equipped to answer them. No, he wouldn't go to Sapphique.

Okay. Then.. he couldn't think of anything else to ask, and sighed, shrugging.

Where is this Blackwater place? He wasn't up to speed on the diplomatic ties of Brecheliant with anyone, given that he kept to himself and didn't involve himself too deeply in Teya's work. She was the leader here, he was the grunt.

hearing reyes agree seemed to smart harder. teya could not reconcile this with her sense of wanting him to be gone, and so she told herself he was all too relieved to be shut of her. he hadn't wanted this pregnancy. there was no reason for him to be here, and that was all the justification she needed to continue her coldness.
"up near coast. but marina wants meeting to be in large fields northwest of caldera. big fields and a forest. they meet you at its edge."
suppose she sent him too soon? teya decided she would just as well be sorry than careful. they could go again if need be. "they want to talk about alliance between us and them. we not have a lot to offer besides medical knowledge and hunting. you talk with them. see if they want things that are doable. say yes if they are."
even as she spoke, teya hoped reyes would say something else. anything, really, anything to indicate that he wasn't just happy to leave as soon as possible.

Marina was not a name he recognized. Thankfully there were details that Teya could share, which would make things easier. It wasn't that the stranger was expecting him on the coast somewhere, but closer to home. Some middle-ground that would be easier to find. Reyes figured he could go, camp there a few days, and head back if he didn't see anyone.

It felt wrong to be included in something like this. Maybe Teya was sharing the load because they were married, and she would need help with her condition worsening. Maybe she did it to be rid of him. Reyes wasn't the most diplomatically savvy person in the pack - which made him wonder to himself, why? Why send him anywhere except to get him as far away as possible? It was a grim thought but he couldn't exactly refute it.

Alright. He agreed. If she wanted him gone, he'd go. Seemed to be par for the course at this point; no sooner had they become mates, now they were practically estranged from one another, and somehow Reyes felt he deserved it all.

He couldn't think of anything else to say. Any other time Reyes would have rallied behind his thoughts, put voice to them and warred with Teya over what he thought was the truth of the matter - but he was tired of fighting. All fighting ever got him was more pain, anyway. So sure, he'd do what she wanted, and maybe then she would be happy.


He moved for the doorway then, pausing to dip his head and sniff at one of the fish she'd brought, but carried on with a stride.

he did not say the words she wanted him to say, and hated herself for wanting him to say.
teya felt him move behind her. she heard the pair of syllables drop from his mouth and then listened to him trudge away. her heart thudded frantically behind the bars of her ribcage. when she dared to lift her head and look away from the water, only his proud red hackles were disappearing into the fading light.
teya realized that she did not want him to go, as much as she wished he was gone. she told herself again, fiercely, that he hadn't cared before, that he didn't want this. maybe she was doing him a favour. maybe he would take it that way.
her stomach revolted violently at the scent of her own catch, which had taken hours and far more energy than she had meant to expend. only instinct kept teya from throwing it over the bank into the water surrounding the island.
the raven straightened.
reyes was gone.
her chin trembled; her eyes stung; but she was resistant to more days of swollen eyes and chapped throat. teya turned toward their den, and answered the urges billowing inside her chest: she began to dig, expanding the hallway and sleeping room little by little, hour by hour, until the owl-calls made her pause, soil-streaked and sweaty.
this was not something she could escape. and so she must make it work.
teya found she missed reyes fiercely, already, and sharply went back to her nesting.